Described herein is a nutritional supplement system for the delivery of vitamins, minerals, and/or probiotics for sustaining the health of human subjects.
Vitamin and mineral preparations are commonly administered as general nutritional supplements. Micronutrients are elements or compounds which are present in foods and herbs in small or trace amounts. These include vitamins, minerals, or other elements, and substances found in foods. The macronutrients consist of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, which supply nutrients and calories. Some elements such as calcium, sodium, potassium, chloride, and phosphorus are consumed in relatively large amounts, while many such as iron, iodine, and zinc are consumed in small amounts. Vitamins, such as vitamin B12 and folic acid, and the minerals copper, selenium, and chromium are consumed in very small or trace amounts.
Inasmuch as the human body does not synthesize many compounds which are essential to the human body, certain vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients can be obtained from only two sources, food and supplements. The primary source of all nutrients is food. However, many people do not acquire optimal amounts of the essential compounds and elements from the foods they eat. Thus, nutritional supplementation has become a recognized method of preserving good health.
The consumption of probiotic supplements also can be beneficial to the well being of humans. It has been recognized that temporary or chronic digestive symptoms can be caused by a damaged or disordered intestinal flora. Consumption of a nutritional supplement preparation containing suitable microorganisms is often sufficient to alleviate or to eliminate the symptoms caused by a disordered or damaged intestinal flora.
As used herein, “probiotics” refers to live micro-organisms, delivered in food supplements, which beneficially affect the host animal by improving its intestinal microbial balance. Antibiotics and other related compounds are not included in this definition. (J. Nutr. 1995; 125:1401-12). For humans, lactobacilli are commonly provided as probiotics, either as single species or in mixed culture with other bacteria. Other genera that have been used are bifidobacteria and streptococci. “Prebiotics” refers to non-digestible food ingredients that beneficially affect the host by selectively stimulating the growth and/or activity of bacteria in the colon.
It has been a problem with many prior nutritional supplement systems that they provide incomplete nutrition or that a multiplicity of doses of nutrients must be taken at multiple different times to achieve a well balanced and appropriately timed delivery of nutrients to a user. Prior nutritional supplement systems have in some cases delivered nutrients to a location in the digestive tract where, although effective for uptake of the nutrients, have caused user discomfort. In other cases, one or more nutrients are released in a location that is not optimal for uptake by the body. When nutrients or probiotics are released in locations that are unfavorable reduce biological activity can result. For example, probiotics typically do not survive exposure to stomach acid.
It has been a specific problem in the formulation of supplements for the delivery of vitamin B12 that the absorption of vitamin B12 has been found to require secretion of a glycoprotein, known as “intrinsic factor,” from cells lining the stomach. Normally, vitamin B12 is readily absorbed in the last part of the small intestine (ileum), which leads to the large intestine. However, to be absorbed, the vitamin must combine with intrinsic factor. As a result of passage through the stomach, vitamin B12 is attaches to intrinsic factor for transfer. This combination of the vitamin and intrinsic factor can then be “caught” by the ileal receptor. Without intrinsic factor, significant amounts of vitamin B12 can remain in the intestine and are excreted in the stool. Previously it has been thought that, to maximize the absorption of vitamin B12, a supplement should be formulated to deliver vitamin B12 in the stomach to maximize binding to intrinsic factor and optimize uptake of the intrinsic factor/B12 complex. But there are difficulties with supplements that provide for rapid release vitamin B12 in the stomach.
There thus is a continuing need for user friendly systems for effectively delivering beneficial substances to the body.
In answer to that need a nutritional supplement system is provided that supplies nutrients and/or probiotics at various appropriate locations in the digestive tract.
One particular element of such a system is a dosage unit formulated to release vitamin B12 over time in both the stomach and the intestines of the upper GI tract.